The head of an organisation which promotes community relations said an event in which a police chief took the knee promoted Kent as a tolerant place.

It comes after a Freedom of Information request revealed more than 100 people wrote to Kent's Police and Crime Commissioner in response to the Chief Constable's action at an event in Gravesend.

Alan Pughsley attended the event in Gravesend last year, which was held after the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who was killed by an ex-Minneapolis police officer in America during an arrest. It sparked worldwide protests.

A data request made to the Office of the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner (OKPCC) revealed they were contacted by 103 individuals who expressed their "opinion/dissatisfaction" about the Chief Constable's decision to take the knee at the event.

However, they said no formal complaints were recorded due to legislation which dictates how a person must have either personally witnessed or been directly affected by a matter for a complaint to be considered eligible. Every individual who wrote to the OKPCC did, however, receive a full response.

In disclosing the figures, the OKPCC said: "The Chief Constable’s decision to ‘take the knee’, was his personal choice.

"All officers in Kent Police have the option to do so.

"It should also be noted that key national policing organisations supported this stance, namely the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the College of Policing and the Superintendents’ Association."

Gurvinder Sandher is the chief executive of Kent Equality Cohesion Council (KECC) and organised the event in June last year, along with the North Kent Caribbean Network.

He said: "If you think about what we did there, and if you fast forward to now with the England football team and you look at the Premier League matches and everything else where people have been taking the knee, I know some people try to politicise it, but my view is, as an organisation which is non-political, our view about taking a knee was about showing solidarity with what was happening at that time in America and around the world around with racial equality.

"Some people try to politicise it and say if you're taking a knee, you support the political movement Black Lives Matter or you support defunding the police or you support a Marxist society.

"Our objective was quite clear and it's the same with what we have done recently after the racism with the England football team stuff; we are here as an organisation which looks to promote community cohesion, bring communities together, but also highlight if there are racial inequalities.

"We felt it was important at that time - as an organisation which is known or well-respected in Kent - to show some leadership around that issue.

"We organised a Windrush celebration in June 2021 and people are still talking about the fact the Chief Constable of Kent came to show solidarity and stood with the communities at that time [a year earlier], and took the knee. People still see that as a real powerful message.

"At that time, we got messages on Facebook and our other colleagues, like the Caribbean Network, got messages from people being derogatory about it.

"But that was the minority. The majority of people - especially we are talking about members from the community, the diverse communities that we work with - they were touched that Alan had shown that leadership."

Mr Sandher, who is also county chairman of the Independent Police Advisory Group, says the event drew national and international attention with media organisations from as far away as the US and Asia getting in touch with KECC.

He added: "I am really proud of the fact that it impacted beyond Kent and we were able to show that in the county of Kent we are a tolerant county, we respect communities and if issues like this are taking place, we will call out racial inequality.

"I've always prided myself here in Kent that we, on the whole, enjoy really positive relations; we come together as communities and we support each other.

"We celebrate our shared values and there's a real strong, working relationship with the police, the local community, and local authority partners.

"But the football is just showing again that there is this minority, an undercurrent, who are still looking for opportunities to cause division within society.

"So that's why a year on, people are still talking about the fact that Mr Pughsley had come to show solidarity, and that to me shows leadership and courage."

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